Policy - Selection and appointment of Statutory Auditors in the Bank for the year 2020-21
Appointment of Statutory Auditors (Statutory Central Auditors and Statutory Branch Auditors) is being done on the basis of guidelines issued by Government of India (GO l)/ Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from time to time.
Our Policy on appointment of Statutory Auditors is based on the guidelines issued by Govt. of India and Reserve Bank of India and is subject to changes, if any, made by GOI and/or RBI from time to time. The recent guidelines for appointment of Statutory Branch Auditors is circulated by RBI vide Ref. DOS. ARG. No. 2160 / 08.14.003/2020-21 dated 15.03.2021. The policy is revised based on the same.
A. APPOINTMENT OF STATUTORY CENTRAL AUDITORS (SCAs):-
Govt. of India vide their letter No. F No. 1/14/2004-BOA dated 25/11/2014 issued by Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services, informed that the issue of appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs) in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) has been revisited. The Govt. has decided that the work of selection and appointment of SCAs will be delegated to individual PSBs for the year 2014-15 and onwards. Reserve Bank of India will provide criteria for selecting SCAs to PSBs, keeping in view the policy parameters in this regard. C & AG will provide the list of auditors available with them and PSBs can make selection out of the list with previous approval of RBI.
I. Number of Audit Firms
In terms of Reserve Bank of India letter No. DBS.ARS. No. 6095/08.91.008/2015-16 dated 26/11/2015, UCO Bank being a 'B' category Bank, is required to have not more than 5 (Five) SCAs, and the actual numbers of SCAs to be appointed can be decided by Bank's board subject to the above limit.
Based on policy approved by the Board, our Bank will have 5 (five) Nos. of SCAs till further review by the Board. However the Board may review and decide on the number of SCAs any time if felt necessary.
II. Eligibility of Audit Firms
C&AG will empanel the Audit Firms based on the specified parameters as on January 1st of the relevant year and send the panel to RBI.
As per the RBI guidelines, our Bank will have 5 (five) Nos. of SCAs. However the Board may review and decide on the number of SCAs at any time if felt necessary.
In accordance with the guidelines of GOI and RBI, the policy of our Bank for appointment of Statutory Auditors as under:
1. The Norms on eligibility, empanelment and selection of Statutory Central Auditors:
- The audit firm shall have a minimum 7 full time chartered accountants, of which at least 5 should be full time partners exclusively associated with the firm. The remaining 2 could be either exclusive partners or CA employees with a continuous association with the firm for a period of one year. These partners should have minimum continuous association with the firm i.e. one each should have continuous association with the firm at least for 15 years and 10 years, two with a minimum of 5 years each and one with a minimum of one year. Four of the partners should be FCAs. Also at least two of the partners should have minimum 15 and 10 years’ experience in practice. (In case the paid Chartered Accountant available with the firm without any break was admitted as a partner of the said firm at a future date, his association with the firm as a partner will be counted from the date of his joining the firm as a paid Chartered Accountant.)
- The number of professional staff (excluding typists, stenographers, computer operators, secretary/ies and sub-ordinate staff etc.), consisting of audit and articled clerks with the knowledge in book-keeping and accountancy and are engaged in outdoor audit should be 18.
- The standing of the firm should be of at least 15 years which would be reckoned from the date of availability of one full time FCA continuously with the firm.
- The firm should have minimum statutory central audit experience of 15 years of Public Sector Banks (before or after nationalisation) and/ or by way of statutory branch audit thereof or that of statutory audit experience of a private sector bank with deposits resources of not less than Rs.500 crore. (In case any of the partner of an audit firm is nominated / elected for a period of at least 3 years or more on the Board of any public sector bank then his / her such experience for a maximum period of three years will be considered as bank audit experience, provided such experience has not been earned by him/ her concurrently i.e. when his / her firm was assigned statutory audit of any PSB, select all India financial Institutions or RBI.)
- The firm should have statutory audit experience of 5 years of the Public Sector Undertakings (either Central or State Government undertaking). (While calculating such experience, more than one assignment given to a firm during a particular year or more than one year's statutory audit (audits in arrears) assigned to the firm will be reckoned, as one year experience only, for the purpose of counting such experience.)
- At least two partners of the firm or its paid Chartered Accountants must possess CISA / ISA qualification.
Note :
1. C&AG will empanel the Audit Firms based on the above parameters as on January 1 of the relevant year and send the panel to RBI.
2. If any audit firm empanelled by C&AG with the position as on January 1 undergoes change in its constitution after empanelment date, the audit firm will take all necessary steps to become eligible within a reasonable time and in any case, audit firm should be complying with above norms [Para 1 (i) to (vii)] on eligibility, empanelment and selection of Statutory Central Auditors in Public Sector Banks hosted on RBI web site before the following events:
- Appointment of the audit firms by the Bank as SCAs. For this, the audit firm while giving consent to the Bank for appointment may ensure that it complies with the norms.
- Before commencement of Annual Statutory Audit for Financial Year ending 31st March and till the completion of annual audit.
- Quarterly Review of Accounts as on June 30, September 30 and December 31 every year till its completion.
In case any audit firm (after appointment) does not comply with any one of the norms (on account of resignation, death etc. of any of the partners, employees etc), it may promptly approach the Bank with full details. The Bank in turn may approach RBI.
2. Procedure for appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs)
- The Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (C&AG) will provide a graded panel. The audit firms in case of both the panels i.e. experienced as well as new firms, will be ranked (highest to lowest) based on the points given by C&AG. Banks will select the statutory auditors as per norms from the two panels. For Category 'A' banks, cut off limit for selection of audit firms will be 4 times of vacancy in that category while for Category 'B' banks, cut off limit will be 8 times of vacancy. Category 'C' banks will have the liberty to choose audit firms from the entire panel. The cut offs for category 'A' and ‘B’ banks, both for experienced as well as new firms, will be indicated by RBI at the time of forwarding the panels to banks.
- As such, our Bank being a 'B' category bank, will select the SCAs from the eligible list of firms received from RBI based on gradation decided by C & AG. In this connection, Bank will examine the following lists provided by RBI:
- List of Continuing Firms (i.e. the list of audit Firms who have not completed three years of audit )
- List of eligible, non continuing audit firms in two parts viz. experienced audit firms and new audit firms.
- The appointment of SCAs will be made on an annual basis, subject to their fulfilling the eligibility norms prescribed by RBI from time to time and also subject to their suitability.
- Based on RBI Guidelines our Bank will take into consideration the following Points/parameters while short listing the audit firms:
- The allotment of vacancies of SCA's shall be in the ratio of 60:40 between 'Experienced ' and 'New' audit firms. As regards ratio of 60:40, the number will be rounded to the nearest round number and auditors from the 'Experienced' and 'New' firm list will be chosen. However, the said vacancies to be filled in the ratio of 60:40 among experienced and new audit firms is applicable only for fresh vacancies arising this year and not for continuing auditors. Accordingly if there is only one fresh vacancy in the bank the same will go to an experienced firm only, based on rounding off the ratios to the nearest whole number, as hitherto.
- As far as possible, at least two audit firms having their Head Office at Kolkata (being Head Office of our Bank) will be selected. This condition is applicable for the combined pool of continuing and fresh auditors.
- Audit firms will not be shortlisted who have last retired from our Bank (after completing the full term) before going under rest.
- The firms whose partner/s are on our Bank's Board will not be shortlisted.
- An audit firm is eligible to be appointed as a Central/ Branch auditor of only one PSB during a particular year.
- Adequate number of audit firms will be shortlisted to take care of the situation where some firms may not give consent.
- Committee Approach
A committee of General Managers from Risk Management, Credit, Recovery & Finance Department would shortlist the firms under both categories from the list of audit firms provided by Reserve Bank of India for Statutory Central Audit and the same shall be placed before the Audit Committee of the Board for its approval.
The said General Managers’ committee would also shortlist & finalize firms for statutory branch Audit from the list of audit firms provided by Reserve Bank of India for Statutory Branch Audit and shall be placed before the Audit Committee of the Board for its approval. - Based on the above parameters, a list of shortlisted audit firms in the order of preference will be prepared and will be placed before the ACB for their approval. Willingness in writing from the above shortlisted audit firm(s) will be obtained to accept the assignment of Statutory Central Audit work of the Bank. At the time of obtaining the willingness letters from such shortlisted audit firms, there will be no commitment on the part of our Bank to allot the Statutory Central Audit work to the auditors and such shortlisted audit firms are free to give similar willingness to multiple PSBs, if approached by other PSBs.
- On due approval by the ACB, the Bank will approach the audit firms to obtain their consent in writing strictly in order of preference. The audit firm should give their consent in writing for consideration of appointment in our bank for the particular year and the subsequent continuing years subject to fulfilling of norms as stipulated by RBI from time to time. If the approached audit firm does not give consent, the bank will approach the next audit firm in order of preference for obtaining consent till the time the number of audit firms who have given the consent equals to number of vacancies for the particular year. The consent letter should clearly state that the selection of the audit firm as Statutory Central Auditor is subject to approval of RBI and any force majeure events and, in such cases, the audit firms will not have any claim against our Bank and RBI. The appointment of SCAs is subject to complying with the stipulated norms on eligibility and empanelment issued by RBI from time to time. The audit firm should declare that consent is given to one PSB only and will be treated as irrevocable and request, if any, from audit firms for changing the bank, after giving its consent to our bank will not be entertained.
- The list of such selected firms who have given consent for appointment as statutory central auditors in our Bank will be placed before the ACB / Board for their concurrence and will be forwarded to RBI for final approval.
- The audit firms applying for empanelment as SCAs in our Bank are required to give an undertaking that, in case of selection in our Bank, they would give up the existing assignment, if any, in Private Banks/Foreign Banks/RBI/Financial Institutions such as National Housing Bank, EXIM Bank etc. and they cannot refuse appointment of our Bank, once selected.
- Audit firm(s) selected by our Bank after submitting its consent in writing will be debarred for a period of 3 years for selection if the firm refuses to accept the appointment without a reasonable ground (that is ground not to the satisfaction of RBI).
- A feedback on the quality of audit of SCAs will be given by our Bank to RBI after completion of the annual audit.
- In order to protect the independence of the auditors/audit firms, Bank will make the appointments of SCAs for a continuous period of three years subject to the firms satisfying the eligibility norms each year. Bank will not remove the audit firms during the above period without the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
- The Board approved policy of our Bank for appointment of statutory auditors will be hosted on the Bank's web-site.
Note : A full time partner does not include a person who is :
- A partner in other firms.
- Employed full time/part time elsewhere, practicing in own name or engaged in practice otherwise or engaged in other activity which would be deemed to be in practice under Section 2 (2) of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949
3. Irrevocable consent :
Irrevocable consent will be obtained from the Audit Firm in writing for consideration of appointment in our bank for the particular year and for the subsequent continuing years.
4. Undertakings/ Declarations to be obtained from the firm/ firms:
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In case of selection in our Bank, the firm(s) would give up the existing assignment (if any), in Private Banks/ Foreign Banks/ RBI/ Financial Institutions such as National Housing Bank, EXIM Bank etc. and they cannot refuse our appointment once selected.
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The firm(s), after submitting the consent in writing will be debarred for a period of 3 years for selection if they refuse(s) to accept the appointment without a reasonable ground (that is ground not to the satisfaction of RBI).
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At the time of acceptance of appointment as SCA of our Bank, the firm(s) has to relinquish any internal assignment allotted to them in our Bank/ Subsidiary of our Bank. Their associate firms or sister concerns are also disqualified for internal audit or for any special assignment of our Bank.
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A suitable undertaking from the firm(s) to the effect that the Audit will be carried by their own staff and they will not subcontract the Audit Work.
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None of the disqualifications under section 226 of the Companies Act, 1956 applies to them and they are qualified for appointment as Statutory Central Auditors of the Bank.
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There are no adverse remarks/ disciplinary proceedings pending/ initiated against the firm/any of its partners/proprietor on the records of ICAI, which would make them ineligible for appointment as auditors.
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None of the partners of the audit firm or their spouse, dependent children and wholly or mainly dependent parents, brothers, sisters or any of them, OR the firm/ company in which they are partners/ directors are not indebted to our Bank. Further, they have not been declared as wilful defaulters by any Bank or financial institution.
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Associate firms or sister concerns of statutory audit firm are disqualified for internal audit or for any special assignment where the main firm/partners are allotted Statutory Audit in a particular year.
5. Tenure:
SCA Firm will have tenure of three years subject to their eligibility for continuation for subsequent year/ years after first year. The appointment will be made on annual basis subject to their fulfilling the eligibility norms prescribed by Reserve Bank of India and also subject to their performance and suitability.
6. Number of assignment:
The firm appointed as SCA of the Bank will not be eligible for any Statutory Central Audit assignment in other PSBs/Private Banks/ Foreign Banks/ RBI/ Financial Institutions such as National Housing Bank, EXIM Bank etc.
7. Number of branches to be audited by each SCAs:
As per RBI guidelines on Half yearly/ Quarterly Review of accounts, Bank will allot top 20 branches in terms of advances outstanding, in such a manner as to cover balance portion of stipulated 50% of advances and NPAs for review by SCAs.
For annual review of accounts, bank will allot top 20 branches strictly in order of the level of outstanding advances in such a manner as to cover a minimum of 15% of total gross advances of the bank for statutory audit to be carried out by SCAs.
8. Relinquishment of the internal assignments, if any:
In the event of acceptance of the appointment as Statutory Central Auditor of the Bank, all the internal assignments of the Auditor in our bank, if any, will stand withdrawn.
9. Removal:
An audit firm appointed as Statutory Central Auditor may be removed during its tenure with the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India. The Board of Directors of the Bank will be the competent authority to recommend removal of any SCA to RBI.
B. APPOINTMENT OF STATUTORY BRANCH AUDITOR (SBA)
I. Eligible Audit Firms:
The list of eligible firms both continuing and non-continuing audit firms for appointment of Statutory Branch Auditors (SBAs) will be forwarded by RBI through Auditor Allocation System (AAS) developed by RBI.
II. Selection of Branches:
- Statutory branch audit of the Bank should be carried out so as to cover 90% of all funded and 90% of all non-funded credit exposures of the bank. The selection of branches for statutory audit shall include a representative cross section of rural/semi-urban/urban and metropolitan branches, predominantly including branches which are not subjected to concurrent audit. RLH/SME hubs don’t have separate sol ids rather they are working as separate department in zonal offices hence are included in the annual audit of zonal offices by central auditors every year. Centralized hubs like service branches and CPPC Nagpur would also be included for branch audit every year. The selection of branches shall be finalized by the Bank with the consent of our Statutory Central Auditor/s.
- In respect of branches which are subject to concurrent audit by chartered accountants and not selected for Branch Audit, LFARs and other certifications done by the concurrent auditors will be submitted to the Managing Director & CEO. The Bank will consolidate/ compile all such LFARs and other certifications done by concurrent auditors and submit to Statutory Central Auditors as an internal document of the Bank.
III. Procedure for selection of Audit Firms for Branch Audit:
- The Bank will select the names of the audit firms for Branch Audit from the list of eligible non-continuing audit firms as well as all the audit firms appearing in the continuing list recommended by the RBI in the AAS software. While selecting the names of Audit Firms, the following criteria will be considered:
- The office of the Audit Firm is to be preferably in or around the branches to be audited so as to keep close liaison & keep the expenditure on TA/DA at minimum level. In case local auditors are not available, auditors from the nearby districts/States (As far as practicable) may be considered.
- The total number of auditors/audit firms to be appointed as SBAs of the bank may be decided on the basis of the number of branches selected for statutory audit as per the norms and keeping in view that not more than three branches (irrespective of the size) may be allotted to each of the branch auditors.
- Any other criteria RBI may stipulate.
IV. Irrevocable consent:
Irrevocable consent will be obtained from the Audit Firm in writing for consideration of appointment in our bank for the particular year and for the subsequent continuing years.
V. Tenure:
Further, the concept of compulsory rest for two years for audit firms located in the specified centres after completion of four years of continuous Branch audit in our Bank is done away with. However, the same audit firms will not be eligible to be re-appointed as SBAs in our Bank after completion of four years tenure at least for one cycle of four years.
VI. Number of Assignment:
One Audit firm can take up audit assignment in one Public Sector Bank only in one financial year.
VII. Allocation of Branches:
- No distinction will be made between the continuing auditors and the fresh auditors.
- Bank will allot branches, to the extent possible, to the audit firms in the order of their category in such a way that larger branches are audited by bigger/experienced Audit Firms.
- Local auditors will be preferred for branch audit. Among local auditors preference will be given category wise. In case local auditors are not available, auditors from the nearby districts within the State/adjoining States/other States will be considered for audit.
- Bank will give assignment to all the auditors approved/considered for appointment.
VIII. Maximum Number of Branches to be Audited:
Not more than three (3) branches (irrespective of the size) will be allotted to each of the branch auditors.
IX. Relinquish the Internal Assignments, if any:
In the event of acceptance of the appointment a Statutory Auditor of the Bank all the internal assignments in our bank, if any, will stand withdrawn
X. Undertakings/ Declarations to be obtained from the firm/firms:
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A suitable undertaking would be obtained from the firm /firms to the effect that the Audit will be carried by their own staff and they will not subcontract the Audit Work.
None of the disqualifications under section 141 of the Companies Act, 2013 applies to them and they are qualified for appointment as Statutory Branch Auditors of the Bank. -
There are no adverse remarks/disciplinary proceedings pending/ initiated against the firm/any of its partners/proprietor on the records of ICAI, which would make them ineligible for appointment as auditors.
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None of the partners of your firm or their spouse, depending children and wholly or mainly dependant parents, brothers, sisters or any of them, OR the firm/ company in which they are partners/ directors are not indebted to our Bank. Further, they have not been declared as wilful defaulters by any Bank or financial institute.
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Associate firms or sister concerns of statutory audit firm are disqualified for internal audit or for any special assignment where the main firm/partners are allotted Statutory Audit in a particular year.
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One audit firm will take up audit assignment in our Bank only during any financial year.
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The firms whose partner/s are on the Board of the Bank are not eligible to be appointed as auditor of the Bank.
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The audit firms retiring as Statutory Central Auditors from the Bank shall not be eligible to be appointed as SBAs of the Bank during the prescribed cooling period for SCAs of the bank.
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Auditor will not accept any offer for appointment as internal Auditor or Special assignment in the Bank other than Statutory Audit.
XI. Removal/Discontinuation:
C. Audit Of Foreign Branches:
As on date Bank is having two foreign branches at Singapore and Hong Kong. The Audit of existing Foreign Branches and branches which may be opened in future will be governed by the Laws of that country as well as norms prescribed by RBI. International Wing, Head Office will ensure compliance with respect to Auditing, Selection of Auditors and payment of remuneration etc.
D. Structure for Payment of Fees:
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Audit Fees
SCAs and SBAs will be paid fees for audit as per extant RBI guidelines. The Schedule of audit fees admissible to the auditors for the audit work of the branch, depending upon the quantum of total advances (a to l) [as on the date with reference to which the audit is conducted] will be as under:Category of bank branches
(on the basis of quantum of advances)Rates of Audit fees
(Amount in Rs.)a) Upto Rs. 10 crore
40,250/-
b) Above Rs. 10 crore upto Rs. 20 crore
57,500/-
c) Above Rs. 20 crore upto Rs. 30 crore
79,350/-
d) Above Rs. 30 crore upto Rs. 50 crore
1,20,750/-
e) Above Rs. 50 crore upto Rs. 75 crore
1,38,000/-
f) Above Rs. 75 crore upto Rs. 125 crore
1,82,850/-
g) Above Rs. 125 crore upto Rs. 175 crore
2,28,850/-
h) Above Rs. 175 crore upto Rs. 300 crore
2,87,500/-
i) Above Rs. 300 crore upto Rs. 500 crore
3,24,300/-
j) Above Rs. 500 crore upto Rs. 1000 crore
3,59,950/-
k) Above Rs. 1000 crore upto Rs. 5000 crore
3,95,600/-
l) Above Rs. 5000 crore
4,31,250/-
m) Service Branches/Specialized branches i.e. City Back Offices and Central Pension Processing Cell branches will be paid audit fees of Rs. 25,000/-
25,000/-
n) Asset Management Branches/Asset Recovery Branches
25% of the Audit fees payable on the size of the advance portfolio (NPA) of that Asset Management Branch/ Asset Recovery Branch.
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Fees for LFAR and Tax Audit
Particulars
Fees for LFAR
Fees for Tax Audit
HO/Controlling Offices
25% of basic audit fees
20% basic audit Fees
Branches
10% of basic audit fees
15% of basic audit Fees
Note :
- No fee is payable to Branch Auditors for additional attestation
- No separate TA/HA shall be payable for LFAR/Tax Audit of Head/ControllingOffice and branches.
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Remuneration for Central Audit work of the bank
As hitherto, for fixing the remuneration, specific areas of work of the auditors, which have to be taken into account, shall continue to be:
- Scrutiny and incorporation of returns of branches and
- Audit of the Head/Central Office as an accounting unit.
Regarding (a) above, the fees admissible to the statutory central auditors has been fixed at ₹750/- per branch in respect of all the branches of the bank in existence as on the date of reference for the audit, irrespective of the fact whether the branches have been taken up for audit or not.
As regards (b) above, the fees admissible will be as under :
Category of banks
(on the basis of balance sheet size)Rate of audit fees
(₹)Up to ₹50000 crore
706200/-
Above ₹50000 crore and up to ₹100000 crore
783200/-
Above ₹100000 crore and up to ₹200000 crore
842600/-
Above ₹200000 crore and up to ₹500000 crore
902000/-
Above ₹500000 crore
961400/-
Size of our Balance Sheet falls between ₹200000 crore and ₹ 500000 crore. Hence the fees for Audit of the Head/Central Office as an accounting unit shall stand at ₹ 902000/-.
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Fees for additional certification:
As per extant guidelines of RBI an additional remuneration @ 12% of the basic audit fees shall be payable for the following certifications/validations required to be made in terms of various circulars/guidelines issued by RBI and any other certification/validation included from time to time as per RBI requirements.
- Verification of SLR requirements under Section 24 of BR Act, 1949 on 12 odd dates in different months in a year, not being Fridays.
- A certificate to the effect that the bank has been following RBI guidelines regarding (a) asset classification, (b) income recognition (c) provisioning, and also to the effect that the bank has followed RBI guidelines in regard to the investment transactions/treasury operations.
- A certificate in respect of reconciliation of bank’s investments (on own account as also under PMS).
- A certificate for compliance in key areas by the banks.
- A certificate in respect of custody of unused BR forms.
- Authentication of bank’s assessment of Capital Adequacy Ratio in the ‘Notes on Accounts’ attached to the balance sheet and various other ratios / items to be disclosed in the ‘Notes on Accounts’.
- Certificate regarding loan portfolio review if the bank seeks World Bank assistance (Capital Restructuring Loan).
- Certification regarding DICGC items.
- Verification of SLR and CRR returns submitted by the bank to RBI during the period under audit and confirming the same to RBI and the bank under audit.
- To comment upon the status of compliance by the bank as regardsthe implementation of the recommendations of the Ghosh Committee and the Working Group on internal controls.
- Commenting upon the credit deposit ratio in the rural areas as per the instructions of Government of India.
- Reporting of instances of suspected fraud if any, noticed during the course of statutory audit as per Mitra Committee Recommendations. As hitherto, no fee is payable to branch auditors for additional attestations.
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Branches below the cut-off point of annual audit which are subject to Concurrent Audit by Chartered Accountants, Concurrent Auditor will submit LFAR for that branch and will get the remuneration equal to the fees received by Concurrent Auditors for one month.
E. Reimbursement of Travelling and Halting Allowances and Daily Conveyance Charges
- For reimbursement of the lodging & boarding charges, travelling allowance and daily conveyance to statutory auditors, the banks has been given the discretion to decide the same in a cost effective manner in mutual consent with the auditors. Further, in no circumstances should the rate exceed the IBA prescription for the respective ceiling. The categories of officers linked for the purpose of deciding the ceiling limits are given below.
Category of audit Officials
Equivalent scale of Bank Officials(as per IBA)
Partners/Proprietors
VII – General Manager
Qualified Assistants
III – Senior Manager
Unqualified Assistants
I – Officers
- With regard to the reimbursement of travelling, halting allowance and daily conveyance charges, the Bank shall consider as under:
- Wherever the Bank has Guest House or Visiting Officers’ Flats, the same may be utilized to cater to the needs of the auditors.
- Bank shall call for such details as are necessary for verification of bills in this regard and the statutory central auditors as well as branch auditors shall furnish such details for verification of the actual expenses.
- Where the statutory central auditors have their headquarters at a place different from that where the Head/Central Office of the bank is situated, but have an office at the same place as the Head/Central Office of the bank, the TA/HA, if any, should be nominal for the central audit. However, to ensure the quality of audit, there will be no objection to the partners of the firm visiting the Head/Central Office of the bank as and when they deem it necessary.
- Where the statutory central auditors or branch auditors have an office at the place where the branches/offices of the bank to be audited are situated, they will not be reimbursed TA/HA. However, local conveyance will be reimbursed.
- In case of dispute between the auditors and the bank regarding settlement of their bills, the MD& CEO of the Bank shall be the final authority to decide the claims satisfying himself that the actual expenses have been incurred by a particular auditor and the claims are settled keeping in view the aforesaid RBI guidelines.
The policy contained hereinabove is in conformity with the guidelines issued by RBI.
